The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-01-21

the outside dampness was entering
the room, and the idea occurred to
me that it would be we'll to
light q fire. l lit it; it was the
first Of the year. And / sat down
| once more, watching the fame. But
soon the impossibility OF remaining
quiet in any one position forced me
to get up again, and ltelt that would
have to 90 out somewhere to stir my
self, to find a friend.
| went out. First | visited the
| houses of three different friends, no
| one OF whom was at home; then went
on the boulevard, resolved to find some
acquaintance or other.
1t was dismal everywhere. The wet
sidewalks were shining. A watery
lukewarmness-one Of those luke
warmnesses which nevertheless chill
you with sudden shivers, the weighty
lukewarmness of impalpable rain
seemed tao bear down over the whole
street, and to make the gas jets burn
YEARLY and dim.
l walked along s~luggishIy, saying
over and over again to myself, II
won't find anybody to talk to-"
Several times l looked into all the
cafes between La Madeleine and the
Faubourg Polssonniere. Only mlser-
able looking people, who did not seem
to have vim enough to finish what
they had ordered, were sitting at the
tables.
| wandered about in this way for a
long time, and about midnight | took
my way home. l was quite calm, but
very tired. My concierge, who always
goes to bed before IL o'clock, opened
the door for me at once, contrary to
his usual habit, and | thought to my.
self: "Hello! some other lodger must
have gone up stairs"
Whenever | go out | always double
lock my door. This time | simply
found it pulled to, and the fact i'm
pressed me. | thought that perhaps
some letters might have been brought
up stairs during the evening.
went in. My fire was still burning,
wen brightly enough to Light up the
apartment. took the candle in or
der to kindle it at the CRATE, when as |
looked right before me, l Ia some
one sitting in my easy chair, with his
back turned to me, apparently warm
ing his feet at the fire.
Twas not startled at all-no, not
the least in the world. A very nat
ural supposition occurred to me,
namely, that one of my friends had
come to pay me a visit. The concierge,
to whom | had given instructions
when l went out, had naturally told
%II yy,giEA~ EhnE mN,,Il n@N~ he In olr
and had lent his own k0v. And then
all the other incidents OF my return
flashed throught my mind in a second
the opening OF the door at once, my
own door simply pulled to, etc.
My friend, whose hair alone | could
see over the back of the chair, had
evidently dropped asleep while wait
ing for my return, and proceeded to
wake him up. / then got a distinct
view Of him; his right aim hung down;
his feet we're crossed one over the 9th
er, and the way his head dropped, a
little to the left of the arm chair,
showed plainly enough that he was
asleep. ! asked myself, Who is it?
Anyhow the light in the gro was not
strong enough to see perfectly by. l
put out my hand TO touch his shoulder.
My hand touched only the wood of
the chairl Nobody was therel The
chair was empty
Mercy! what a shock 1t gave me
First | leaped back as II some terrible
peril had made itself visible. Then /
turned round, feeling that somebody
was behind me; then, almost as quick.
ly, an Imperative desire to look at
that chair again made me wheel
round q second time, and ! stood
there painting with fear--so bewildered
as to be incapable of thinking, on the
very point of falling.
But | am by nature a cool man, and
my self-possessicn soon returned. /
thought to myself: 81 have just had
a hallucination-that is all" And ]
immediately began to reflect on the
phenomenon. In such moments the
mind operates very rapidly.
had had q hallucination-that was
an incontestabie fact. Now my mind
had all the time remained clear, per-
forming it's functions regularly and
logically. There was consequently no
real affection OF the brain. The eyes
alone had been deluded, and had de-
luded my Imagination. The eyes had
a vision-one OF those visions that
make simple minded folks believe in
miracles. 1t was simply a nervous
accident to the optical apparatus
nothing more; perhaps there was a
slight congestion.
And lighted my candle. AS ] bent
down over the fire l found myself
trembling, and / drew myself up again
| with O. sudden start, as if some one